The Queen's Return
by gallaghergirl09
Summary: Without another option, the queen plans to have the changelings return to Equestria. And what better opportunity than the first annual Autumn Evening Celebration, honoring the night, Princess Luna, and the new Princess Twilight?
1. A Wretched Day in the Bad Lands

It was a wretched day in the Bad Lands. Queen Chrysalis was sitting on her throne, contemplating how to find food for her subjects. Love didn't exactly run high in such a dark place as the Bad Lands, so the changelings always had to go out of their own land in order to find food. A lot of their attempts to take over a different land to establish a love supply ended in failure. Their most recent failure: Equestria.

A pegasus pony of Equestrian appearance walked into the throne room. The queen looked up, and watched as the changeling transformed back to its natural appearance.

"Well," She asked. "How goes the spying? Any good prospects?"

"Your Majesty," the changeling replied, bowing. "It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that while there are several adequate sources of the love we feed on, but none are superior to Equestria."

"That is disturbing news. We can't very well go back to Equestria…"

"Your Majesty, it has been almost a year since we attempted to take over Equestria. The buzz is sure to have died down by now. As your advisor, I humbly request that you open your eyes to the fact that we might not have another option."

"I am well aware of that fact. What were your observations while you were in Equestria?"

"The love over all of Equestria has swelled. The air is filled with adoration over the new princess, Twilight Sparkle."

"That brings the appeal so much higher. Wait- did you say _Twilight Sparkle?"_

"Yes, Your Majesty. And I realize that it was indirectly her fault that your first attempt to take over Equestria failed. But I doubt she'll be a threat. She is too busy learning her new royal duties."

"What of her friends, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony?"

"They're all happy for Twilight, and under the illusion that nothing could go wrong. They'd never expect a threat, and we could attack when those ponies aren't able to go get the Elements of Harmony, which are currently being stored in Twilight's abode in Ponyville."

"The possibilities… it's overwhelming. Surely you looked into the ponies who actually defeated us, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. Cadence is now occupied with ruling over the newly-reascended Crystal Empire, with Prince Shining Armor at her side, whenever he is not off on guard duties."

"What events are going on in Equestria right now? Anything I can use?"

"Besides the coronation? Well, this is the year of the first ever Autumn Evening Celebration, honoring Luna, princess of the moon, and Twilight Sparkle, newly-crowned princess of the stars, and the lights of the night. It's being held in Manehatten, the easternmost city in Equestria."

"Perfect. Everypony will be distracted with planning. Take a note, Le Forge, in Celestia's style. I need to get a certain pony out of the way before I can put my plan into action…"


	2. Cadence's Plight

Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire, Cadence was making arrangements to have her hair done, since she would be in attendance at the Autumn Evening celebration, and she would need to wear the Crystal Empire Traditional Royal Headdress. At that moment, Shining Armor walked in the room.

"Hello, Cadence," He greeted.

"Hello, dear," Cadence replied with a smile, which almost disappeared when she turned and saw her husband's face. "What's wrong?"

"Well, nothing, I hope, but Princess Celestia has summoned me to go to Manehatten early to help with security for the Autumn Evening Celebration. I hope you don't mind."

"It's perfectly fine! You're still the captain of the royal guard, after all. I'll be able to handle things here."

"Alright. See you in a few days, then." Shining Armor gave his wife a quick kiss, and walked out of the room.

Cadence waited until the door closed behind him, then went on with her arrangements. After a while, she was alone in the throne room. She began focusing on a letter she was writing to her sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle. She never heard the window open, and barely noticed the figure that crept through it, until it approached her, and gave a low, sinister laugh.

Cadence turned from her letter and gasped. "No… not you…" But no matter how she fought, she couldn't avoid being overpowered by the creature.


	3. A Letter from Shining Armor

A few hours later, in Ponyville's library, Twilight Sparkle was having Spike help her pack for her trip to Manehatten.

"So," Spike asked, noticing that his mistress seemed preoccupied. "Are you excited for the first ever Autumn Evening Celebration?"

"Of course I am, Spike, but right now I'm worried. I wrote Cadence a letter, and she hasn't replied yet."

"What was it about?"

"Nothing really important. It's just that she usually has written back by now."

"Well, maybe something came up and she couldn't reply."

"I guess you could be right…" At that moment, Spike burped and received a letter.

"See? Nothing to worry about." He handed the letter to Twilight, who levitated it, opened and read it.

"Um…There is something to worry about. Listen to this:

" 'Twilight,

Something disastrous has happened. Cadence has disappeared. I am worried sick. Please come to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible.

Your brother,

Shining Armor'"

Twilight ran from the library, leaving Spike slack-jawed. Half in tears, she headed for the train station. Apple Jack saw her, startled, and ran to catch up with her.

"Twilight!" She yelled. "Why the rush?"

"Cadence- gone - have to -find her – can't talk." She replied.

"Hold on there! Slow down! I'm comin' with you!"

"Stay- explain- to others- if they-ask." Twilight took off flying to catch the train to the Crystal Empire.


	4. The Journey Begins

When Twilight got to the Crystal Empire, she went to the castle and found Shining Armor pacing the floor.

"Shining Armor!" She broke him from his trance.

"Twiley!" he replied. "Thank goodness you're here."

"Of course. Now tell me what happened."

"It happened earlier this afternoon. I received a letter saying that Celestia needed me to go to Manehatten early to make preparations for security for your event. I got there, but then Celestia herself told me that it was a hoax. I came back here, and Cadence was gone. This whole thing was probably a plot to get to her…"

"I can't see why, though."

"That's the thing. Neither can I! But I guess that doesn't say much, since I am so worried I'm not really thinking straight."

"And you thought I could help, why?"

"I know worrying runs in the family, but Cadence herself taught you to keep a cool head. You might be able to see something I can't."

"I guess I understand…" She began to look around the room. "Are you sure she was here when she was most likely taken?"

"Pretty sure. I mean, she _was_ alone for a few hours after I left, but she was pretty busy this afternoon."

"I see." She approached the far window. "Was this open when you left?"

His eyes widened. "No, it wasn't."

Twilight looked closer at the window. She gasped. "Shining Armor, look at this!" She pointed to some green goo on the sill.

"Is that…"

"I'm afraid so. Changeling residue." She looked to the south. "The queen…"

"She took Cadence again! I have to go to the Bad Lands and save her."

"No, brother. You have to stay here. If the crystal ponies found out that their princess has been captured by their _prince_ leaving, their spirits will sink, the crystal heart will fail, and Sombra could come back _again_."

"You're right." He sighed reluctantly. "But who will go?"

"I will. I helped defeat the queen once, and I can do it again."

"You were here in Equestria then. But this time, _she'll_ have the home field advantage. Are you sure you can handle that?"

"For Cadence, I can handle anything."

Shining Armor gave a half-hearted smile. "That's my sister. Always passionate about helping others."

"Of course. Plus, this is my sister we're talking about. I'll be back before you know it." She went to the balcony, got a running start, and took off in the direction of the train station, to go as far south as it would take her. She would have to go the rest of the way to the Bad Lands on hoof, or by flying.


	5. Twilight in the Bad Lands

After a long ride, Twilight got off at Dodge Junction and looked due south, where she knew the Bad Lands lie. Ruefully, she took off and began to trek the towering Macintosh hills that lie in the path. She had reached the other side, and stopped to contemplate how she would enter the Bad Lands without being noticed. But at that moment, a couple of changelings slowly crept up and surrounded the young alicorn.

She startled and cried out, and the changelings pounced on her, dragging her further down the hill, into the Bad Lands. Twilight looked in terror upon the changeling's castle, which was identical in shape to Canterlot castle, but colored black with some dark shades of green. The changelings forced her down some stairs in front of the castle, and shoved her into a room, leaving her right after.

Twilight picked herself up and shook off the dust that had gotten in her coat and mane.

"Twilight!" a familiar voice cried.

"Cadence!" Twilight ran to her sister. Even in the dreary situation, they performed their secret hoof shake.

"Sunshine, sunshine

Ladybugs awake!

Clap your hooves

And do a little shake!"

"Oh Cadence," Twilight said. "I'm sorry we're in this mess."

"You? I'm sorry that _you_ got dragged into this mess. I don't even know why the changelings want to hold us here."

"Hold us? There's not even a door here in this dungeon. Why don't we get out right now?" Twilight charged for the corridor to the surface.

"Twilight, don't! There's a-" Twilight was flung back and landed next to Cadence. "Force field." She looked down at Twilight. "Did you think I hadn't tried that already?'

"I guess not" Twilight let Cadence help her up. "Wait! I could use a spell to cancel the force field" she made her horn glow.

"I tried that, too, but changeling magic works different than pony magic. Nothing I do works."

"So… we really are trapped here?" Twilight couldn't hide her despair.

"Yes."

"So what do we do?"

"We hope. What else can we do?"

"You're right." They both settled down on the ground. "Why do they want us?"

"They're trying to take over Equestria again. I guess they think we're their biggest threats. With me out of the way, Shining Armor can't banish the changelings again if they take him over again. With you out of the way, the Elements of Harmony are useless."

"But what about Celestia?"

"The love the queen sucked from Shining was more powerful than her, remember?"

"Oh yeah. But how does the queen expect to slip into Equestria again? Nopony will let a changeling in, so she has to transform into somepony that's trusted and wouldn't appear somewhere the same time she does."

"Well, it couldn't be me, because that would be obvious, since she did that last time."

"So if it's not you, that only leaves…" She gulped.

"You."


	6. Twilight?

Back in Ponyville, Apple Jack was explaining where Twilight had gone to the rest of the Mane Six. They all were shocked and concerned.

"Why didn't she ask us to help?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I think it was mostly because of her relationship with Cadence. She's family to her, and, in her worry, probably wasn't thinking straight and just wanted to get to the Crystal Empire as fast as possible so she could help find her. I think that, because it's the same thing I'd do if any of my family went missin'."

"In any case, I hope she finds her okay. I'd hate to hear that she was hurt or something." Fluttershy commented. The other four agreed.

"Hey, everypony." The dejected voice of Twilight sounded from behind the group.

"Twilight!" The others exclaimed in surprise.

"What are you doing back so soon? Did ya find Cadence?"

"No. I looked everywhere without a sign of her. I wore myself thin, and I thought it would be best to come back here, and start fresh tomorrow. I'm no use to Cadence if I'm exhausted."

The others gave words of comfort and support, agreeing that that was best. They all went to their separate homes, and spent the night peacefully.

The next morning was the day before the Autumn Evening Celebration. Everypony expected Twilight to go back out to look for Cadence, but she ended up caught up in last-minute arrangements for the ceremony. She didn't get any free time, even to the point when she and her friends boarded a private train to Manehatten. Twilight kept to herself on the train, only interacting with the attendant. None of her friends said anything, wanting to give her space since she must have been going through a lot then.

When the six arrive in Manehatten, they went straight to the center of the city, where the ceremony would take place. Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor were already there. They all looked surprised at Twilight.

"Twiley," Shining Armor ran to his sister. "What are you doing here? I thought you left to find Cadence."

"I did, but I came back. I couldn't find her."

Shining Armor looked doubtful, but didn't pursue the issue. As Celestia and Luna walked Twilight through the ceremony, the other five followed Apple Jack, who was going to introduce them to her family who lived in the city. Afterwards, they went to dinner without Twilight, who was still busy with preparations for the ceremony. Shining Armor joined them.

"Hi, everypony," He greeted without emotion.

"Hi, Shining." The five greeted.

"Shouldn't you be helping with preparations for the ceremony? The sun will be going down in an hour or so." Rarity asked.

"The security is all set. They don't need me to be present right now."

"Why so down? Besides the whole Cadence-disappearing-thing, of course." Pinkie asked, gaining glares from her friends.

"Well," he hesitated. "Has anypony else noticed that Twilight has been acting strangely?"

"Well, yeah," Rainbow Dash replied. "I mean, her sister-in-law is missing, after all."

"I don't mean that she's been acting sad or worried. During the ceremony run-through, she was pretty short with everypony."

"I'm sure she must just be nervous," Fluttershy added. "This _is _her first royal appearance since her coronation. I know _I'd_ be nervous and act a bit strange if I were in her hooves."

"Besides that. Twilight _stopped looking._"

"She was tired and stressed." Apple Jack argued.

"She said she couldn't find her, when she _knew _where Cadence would be. She came back without her. Isn't that odd?"

"Maybe she went there and when she didn't find her she came back."

"No. We were certain she was there."

"How?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"You know what? Forget it. I obviously can't convince you." He stood and walked off.


	7. Misery

Meanwhile, in the Bad Lands, Cadence and Twilight were talking to keep each other from focusing on their surroundings and going nuts.

"Why is the queen returning to Equestria _now?"_ Twilight wondered aloud.

"Maybe she's taking advantage of the confusion over the Autumn Evening Celebration?" Cadence suggested.

"But how could she know about it? Only ponies in Equestria know about it."

"Think. Is there any way that the word could have gotten out of Equestria?"

"No…" She reflected back to the day she had heard about it. Celestia had suddenly summoned both Twilight and Luna. The three had met in the hall connecting to Canterlot Tower.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight began. "Why did you ask us here?"

"Yes, sister," Luna added. "What's the word?"

"Well," Celestia began. "Since the exile of Nightmare Moon, we have had a thousand years-"

"One thousand and _three_" Luna and Twilight corrected in unison.

"Pardon me, one thousand and three years' worth of Summer Sun Celebrations. Now that we have a princess of the moon _and_ a princess of the stars, I think it is high time that there was a celebration for the night." Both the other ponies gasped.

"Do you really mean it, sister?" Luna couldn't hide her excitement.

"Yes, Luna. Like you always told me, the night is beautiful, and _should_ be celebrated, and now it will be. We'll call it the Autumn Evening Celebration." The three began to excitedly chatter about details.

"Nopony except the three of us were in the room, except… The intern!" Twilight exclaimed.

"What intern?" Cadence asked.

"A pegasus pony came to the castle and volunteered to help Celestia, at least while she was planning the celebration. Nopony had seen him before. He must have been a changeling spy."

"The more I hear, the more I think that this whole thing was a plot to get me, so I don't defeat Chrysallis again, and to get you so she can take your place."

"I agree. I can only imagine what-" At that moment, a changeling walked in. The two ponies shrunk back.

"Follow me." He commanded, leading the two outside.

"Where are we going?"

"We thought you might like some exercise. Just don't try anything."

"Take his advice," Cadence whispered to Twilight. "When they first brought me here, they put me down and I tried to fly away, but then they stuck my wings to my body with changeling residue." She turned and showed the green goo under both her wings.

Twilight gulped. "Thanks for the notice. I'm sorry about your wings."

Walking outside wasn't much better than the dungeon. In fact, it was worse. The whole aura of the place was dark. The sky was dark, the buildings were dark, and civilians either scowled to each other as they passed or began fighting.

"It's awful here."

"The changelings are understandably irritable, since food has been scarce. I would help them any way I could if they fed on anything besides love..." Cadence replied ruefully.

"Can't you perform your love spell?"

"I already tried, but apparently Equestria magic is almost completely ineffective here in the Bad Lands. They have to find love on their own."

"I see..." Twilight frowned. Suddenly, a couple of holes had formed on one of her wings.

"Twilight, your wing!" Cadence gasped.

"What?" Twilight lifted it, and saw the holes. "Oh no! They're just like the ones that the changelings have all over their bodies."

"They must form whenever sadness overtakes them. You have to keep positive, or you'll get more."

"Right." Twilight groaned, looking at the holes. "This is where Pinkie Pie would come in handy..."

"Just remember, all it takes to turn a bad situation around is a smile or a laugh." Cadence paused, and then started singing a random, silly song, just like Pinkie. Both burst out laughing. One of the holes seemed to shrink a little bit.

"That's it! Just keep a positive attitude, and misery will stop wearing on you."

The changeling who had been leading them hid his own small smile. He turned. "Alright. Back to the dungeon."


	8. Accusation

Meanwhile, Shining Armor had returned to the princesses. Celestia had her back to Luna and Twilight, talking to somepony else. The princesses of the night were still excitedly chattering.

"I still can't believe this! Our own ceremony! It's like a dream." Luna smiled.

"It could be a dream, since you create them." Twilight replied.

"Hah! True. You have such a wit, Twilight Sparkle." She closed her eyes as she laughed, and Shining Armor saw Twilights horn glow green and Luna open her eyes, which were spinning. "Phew." She shook her head. "Pardon me, Twilight Sparkle. I got up much earlier than I'm used to today."

"I completely understand." Behind her kind smile, Shining Armor detected a familiar sneer. He gasped, and ran towards Celestia.

"Princess Celestia!" He cried.

"Oh, Shining Armor," she replied. "I thought you had gone to dinner."

"I had, but I came back, and I'm glad I did. I saw Twilight casting a spell on Luna."

"What?" Both Celestia and Luna exclaimed, looking at Twilight.

"Shining," Twilight whined. "I know I did this exact thing before your wedding, but I apologized. Why do you have to do it in front of my first royal ceremony?"

"But you were also proven right. Can't you two see? Twilight is-"

"Shining Armor," Luna interrupted. "Stop this. Twilight cast no spell on me. I was only acting strange because I'm tired from all the preparations. Obviously you're worried about Cadence and seeing things to try to explain where she went, but they aren't true. You should go rest."

"But-"

"Listen to Luna, Shining Armor," Twilight said authoritatively "Security is accounted for, so you can go rest. I promise that the MOMENT the ceremony is over I'll go and look for Cadence some more."

Defeated, he went back to his temporary abode in Manehatten, and lay down. Had he imagined the whole thing? He had been so confident that he hadn't, but now... was this how Twilight had felt before the wedding? He felt especially bad for having yelled at her back then.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in, it's open," he called. Twilight came in.

"You'd think the captain of the royal guard would keep better track of who comes into his room." She teased.

"Ha ha. Do you need something?"

"Yes, actually." Her eyes flashed green. "To get you out of the way." Her horn began to glow, but Shining Armor had been prepared for her. Just as fake Twilight cast her spell, Shining cast a counter spell so that instead of being teleported directly into the Bad Lands, he was teleported just outside of its walls. He still had the element of surprise.


	9. Prisonbreak

Shining Armor walked as fast as he could without making any noise. He got into the Bad Lands, and was as horrified as Twilight and Cadence had been at the appearance of it. He didn't focus long on the scenery, though. He wondered where Twilight and Cadence were being held..

He walked in the shadows and observed the actions about the castle. Suddenly, he saw a changeling come up from a hole in the ground. He waited for the coast to clear, then went down the stairs to the corridor below

"Twiley? Cadence?" He called

"Shining Armor?" The two replied. Shining Armor followed the voices

"Twilight! Cadence!" He exclaimed upon seeing them

"Shining!" Cadence smiled. "Wait! Don't come any closer.

"What? Why?

There's a force field," Twilight explained. "You would be able to come in, but not able to get out.

"Then what do we do? I have to get you out of here.

"The only way out is if a changeling brings us out. Once they've let us out for fresh air and exercise.

"Do you know when they'll let you out again?

"No.

"Then I'll wait outside for them to bring you out and intercept you.

"That might be disastrous! The changelings won't let us go that easily..." Cadence warned

"It's our only shot. We have to take it, and hope it doesn't blow up in our faces.

"Alright. Just be careful, ok?

"Of course. I love you both, and I'll see you on the other side." He climbed back to the surface, and hid himself, watching silently

Some time later, Shining watched as a changeling guard led Twilight and Cadence above ground. He readied his horn, and charged at the changeling, who was knocked clear off his hooves. "Run!" He yelled, leading the girls to the gates. The guard called out, and several other changelings came and blocked them. Every time, he used the same spell to knock them away

"Our magic doesn't work the same here," Cadence panted. "They won't be down for long.

"We won't need long." At that moment, they reached the gates, and allowed themselves to rest

"We made it." Twilight gasped for breath

"We aren't out of the woods yet." Shining pointed to the changelings who had gotten back up and were gaining. Twilight sighed, and holes appeared on her other wing

"Twiley?" He was terrified

"Long story." She looked dejectedly at the ground

"Oh, Twilight, after all the effort we put into keeping positive..." Cadence said ruefully

"Flying is our best bet to outrun the changelings."

"Twilight can't fly with those holes in her wings!"

"You can."

"They stuck my wings to my body with residue." At this, Shining performed a spell and evaporated the goo.

"Thank goodness! I was dying to stretch my wings."

"Fly to safety. I'll carry Twilight and catch up with you"

"But I'll only slow you down." Twilight argued.

"No buts. Even with your weight, I can go faster than you can alone. Now get on my back." Twilight obeyed, and Shining took off running as Cadence flew up ahead. They knew that the changelings wouldn't pass the Macintosh hills without the queen's command, so they felt that they'd be safe on the other side.

Shining would run for a while, and when the changelings began to gain, he used a teleportation spell to gain back his lead. It was slow going, but he finally approached the other side of the hills. Twilight looked back and saw the changelings begin to fall back, and felt the holes healing as her hopes soared.

Finally, the group found themselves in Dodge Junction. Cadence met up with the other two.

"We have to get to Manehatten. Fast." Shining Armor panted.

"What's going on?" Cadence asked.

"The queen has taken the place of Twilight, and once again everypony believes she's the real thing. She's begun using her spell on the princesses."

"Oh no!"

"There's still time to get to the big city before the celebration. Let's get moving!" They boarded the earliest train, and arrived in Manehatten just as the ceremony was about to begin. Nopony noticed the green tint in Celestia's eyes as she stepped forward and began the introduction to the event.

"Stop! Stop the celebration!" Shining Armor yelled as he ran into the area where the event was taking place.


	10. The Autumn Evening Celebration

"Ugh," fake Twilight groaned. "Why is it that somepony from that family is always the root of the problems with my plans? I mean... why is it that he can't let me be recognized and honored?"

"Because," Twilight yelled as she ran to the scene. "It's not you who is being recognized. It's ME." Everypony gasped.

"Twilight...?" Fluttershy, who was in the front row with her friends, asked hesitantly.

"Don't be fooled, everypony. The princess on stage is Queen Chrysallis, who wants to take over Equestria for the changelings."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Fake Twilight scoffed. "SHE'S the changeling. I mean, look at her! She has holes in her wings, for pony's sake!"

"Okay, since you won't reveal yourself like you did last time, I will!" Twilight performed a spell, and fake Twilight's body melted away to reveal the queen of the changelings, causing everypony to gasp.

"Humph," she guffawed. "I was getting cramped in that SMALL body, anyway."

Twilight growled at the remark. The queen laughed, and began to perform her love-feeding spell on everypony, every attempt countered by Twilight.

"You think that you can defeat me again? Fool! The only pony who was able to put up a fight with me was Celestia, and she's...otherwise occupied."

"I may not be able to defeat you with my magic alone," Twilight declared. "But I CAN defend my subjects."

After a while, the queen shrunk back, her horn smoking. "Isn't this the part where somepony tries to banish me to the Bad Lands?"

"Twilight!" Apple Jack yelled. "Catch!" She threw Twilight's crown to her. "We brought the Elements of Harmony, just in case."

The crown landed perfectly on Twilight's head. The Elements of Harmony were activated, and a brilliant light surrounded the wielders and the queen. Once it disappeared...nothing had happened.

"WHAT?" The wielders cried out. Chrysallis laughed.

"The Elements of Harmony only work if all six are activated" the queen pointed to Twilight, who hadn't activated her element.

"Twilight? What are you doin'?" Apple Jack asked. "Activate your element so we can defeat the queen!"

"No." Twilight declared. "I won't use my element to banish Queen Chrysallis." Her friends' mouths hung open.

"Then it's up to us," Shining Armor stepped forward. "Cadence, come on. We'll link up our magic, like last time."

"No." Cadence stood her ground.

"What?!"

"I refuse to banish Chrysallis again. Exile is only a temporary solution; they'll just come back again, stronger still."

"And you have an idea for a more permanent solution?"

"I do, and I believe Twilight has the same idea; am I right?"

"I think so." Twilight replied. "We need to appeal to the queen's good side, no matter how small that may be right now." She turned to the queen. "Why did you come back here?"

"You know why: to take over Equestria as a food source for my subjects."

"But why? Why do you have to locate food for them?"

"I am their queen! I have to provide for them."

"Surely that isn't the ONLY reason, or you might have given up long ago. Any other reason...?"

"What ARE you getting at?"

"You must care for your subjects, too, deep down inside."

"Well...yes, I suppose in a way, I do care for them."

"Would you go as far as saying that you LOVE them...?"

"Get to the point."

"The holes on your body are caused by misery, which wears on anypony; even me, as you can see. There's no love in the Bad Lands, so the holes form and you have to go elsewhere to get food, but love is only given if it is received, too. Your attempts to get love from us fail because you try to get it by forcing it out us. But what if you were self-reliant?"

"What?"

"You love your subjects. If you only showed that love, your subjects would be built up from it, and in turn share it among themselves. Eventually, if you all love each other, you can keep EACH OTHER strong and still have love to spare. You won't have to suck love out of everypony: they would give it. But you have to take the first step, and love THEM. Will you do that?"

"But if we don't need to get love from ponies from other lands, of what use are our powers to transform?"

"That's easy," Cadence interjected. "Say a pony that somepony loves is gone. You could transform into that pony and REMIND them of the love that they feel for them."

Everypony was silent for what seemed an eternity as the queen mulled over all Twilight and Cadence had said.

"I...I never thought of love that way. It always seemed more of a physical thing, nothing more. But...you're right. I... I love my subjects. They look up to me, and respect me. I... I'll do it! For my subjects!" Something showed in Chrysallis' face that had never been seen in her before: joy, hope, and love. She smiled. A greenish light appeared, and surrounded the queen. Once it was gone, many of the holes in her body had closed.

Celestia and Luna, broken from the spell that had imprisoned them, stumbled forward. Twilight ran to help her mentor stand. "Princess Celestia, are you alright?"

"Twilight... thank goodness you're alright. Your brother saw through the queen's disguise, and called her on it, but we didn't believe him. But after a while, I began to see through it, too, and would have gone to find you, but then she cast that spell on me." She looked up and saw the queen. "Chrysallis..." she readied her horn, but Twilight stepped in front of her.

"No, Princess Celestia! She's... she's good now. Can't you see?" Twilight pointed out that some of the holes in the queen's body had gone.

The queen sheepishly smiled. "Hello, Celestia. I'm sorry I put you and your sister under that spell. I thought that love was only a physical thing to be taken. But I see now that it is so much more. It has to be given, but first earned, a luxury I fear I'll never receive from you now."

"We can discuss that later. Right now, I can say that you're forgiven. Right, sister?"

"Right." Luna agreed.

Everypony cheered for the reformed queen, and the princesses who had reformed her. The celebration went on as planned, and afterwards, the queen returned to the Bad Lands, and the princesses and Shining Armor, along with Twilight's five friends, walked back to where they were staying.

"I still can't believe you reformed the queen!"Celestia couldn't hide her pride.

"Well," Twilight replied "I couldn't have done it without Cadence."

"Aw," Cadence blushed. "I didn't do all that much. I may have helped, but in the end it was you who convinced the queen to be good."

"Hey, Twiley," Shining Armor interrupted. "I've saved YOU for once. Guess we're even now, huh?"

"Hmm... unless I'm mistaken, I saved you twice." His sister teased.

"Three times, if you count scoring the Equestria games for the Crystal Empire." Cadence joined in.

"We'll settle up later, ok?" Shining Armor laughed.

"Twilight..." Rainbow Dash said. "What happened to your wings?"

"Um... tell you later, ok, Dash?"

"I'll hold you to it, Twi!"

So everypony settled down in their respective rooms, and slept through the night, confident that everything was fine.


	11. Epilogue

Once Twilight's wings healed, she returned to the Bad Lands to see if the queen had kept her word. She was ecstatic over what she saw: instead of pouncing on her, the changelings welcomed her into the city. Most everypony no longer had holes in their bodies. You could easily see the new joy between the changelings.

The biggest change was in their queen, who had become kind and loving. Beloved by all, she was now one of the fairest rulers in history.

Because of this change, and with Celestia and Chrysallis' permission, all maps of Equestria were changed. The Bad Lands were renamed, to be named "Changeling Territory". A train station was built in the territory, and tracks were laid once a tunnel was drilled through the Macintosh hills. The changelings and Equestrian ponies have lived in peace ever since.


End file.
